It’s the shortest storyline coming out the 2005 SEMA Show. Where
are all the GM and Dodge pickups?

There is not a single pickup truck in the massive GM booth, and the Mopar
Speed Shop where Dodge and Chrysler have their vehicles counts only one
pickup.

A GM spokesman said the company is showcasing its recent launches, so
there are plenty of HHRs and Hummer H3s as well as a heavy emphasis on
small cars such as the Cobalt SS. But no pickups. To be fair, the current
Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are in the final year of their life cycle,
so it doesn’t make sense to showcase any trick ideas. But where
are the Colorados and Canyons?

In the Mopar booth, a spokesman said the emphasis was on the Dodge Charger.
Hiding in the shadows off to the side was a new Mega Cab. Not much information
was available but we did spot a new Leer 800 Series tonneau and noticed
equipment from Toyo, Audiovox, Amp Research, Precision Grilles, Superchips,
Superlift and Boyd Coddington wheels. But where are the Dakotas? And this
is a performance show, so why not impress us with another cool SRT-10?
The Mopar spokesman did point out a few new parts for the Ram pickup in
the Mopar catalog, such a cat-back exhaust, Ram-air induction and performance
headers.

There has been talk around the show that perhaps the manufacturers don’t
want to emphasize up their gas-guzzling trucks when consumers are still
reeling from record gas prices. There are still plenty of pickups in the
aftermarket booths but the automakers were low key this year on the truck
side.

We’ll have a report on the Ford booth, which sports a nice selection
of hopped-up 4x4s and even a pair of sweet Lincoln Mark LTs, in a later
posting.